Satsang - the company of truth

Satsang means company of truth. It means actively seeking to associate with truth, persons who know truth, and true seekers of truth. Satsang is one of the commitments that we have to make to ourselves as serious seekers of truth. It is a commitment to stay on the path of truth and avoid a path of untruth. It is a commitment not just to seek the company of truth, but to stay away from untruth.

DISCLAIMER: Any classification presented in this blog is not for us to judge ourselves or others. This is to help us be aware of certain attitudes at a given point of time. Hence, judge the situation and not the person. Attitudes can be changed, and the objective of the blog is to be aware of attitudes so that we can work on them.

There are 4 attitudes that one can have towards truth or a lack of it:

1) A primary commitment to truth in thought, action, and words

2) A commitment to 'lack of commitment' in thought, action, and words

3) A confused approach without direction in thought, action, and words

4) A primary commitment to other purposes in thought, action, and words

Those who are primarily committed to truth are sure of only one thing...

a dedication to truth. Truth to them is something that helps them see consistency and integrity in themselves, others, and the world. It is an absence of inner conflict even in the presence of external conflict. It is not verbal, but it is very much real to them individually. It is not partial or 'half baked', it is complete. It is not relative to the situation and it is not modified for the sake of convenience or simplicity. It brings coherence in thought, action and deed, and unifies all their goals and objectives with truth at the center. In short, truth is absolute, universal, and yet very much real. Truth is secure enough to co-exist with untruth, whereas untruth is not secure enough to coexist with truth.

Such persons are honest with themselves and thereby to others in thought, action, and words. They may not know 'truth' directly, but they abide by it through consistency, integrity, and honesty. They do not say one thing and do another. They are simple and straight forward (what you see is what you get). They are open, and do not keep secrets. They are not afraid or ashamed of their past no matter what it may contain. They are willing to do what it takes to fully come to terms with themselves (including their past), others, and the world in general. To them, the means and ends are equally important. The truth is not just a goal, but also a path, and a way of life.They may subscribe to any belief (e.g., theism, atheism, philosophy, science, ethics, morality) at any point of time, but they are true to their belief in thoughts, actions and words until the belief is proven to be false or incomplete to them either by logic or experience. They do not take themselves too seriously, and they are not offended, even when they are not given what may be due to them. They are not afraid to defend truth and they do not tolerate untruth. Since their dedication is only to truth in completeness and reality, they are willing to discard older beliefs for newer ones as part of their journey in the path of truth.

Those who are committed to 'lack of commitment' may seem to be open minded and flexible. They may get along easily with many people, but they are certain to lose interest in any activity, goal, or pursuit soon. They may lack persistence or perseverance in the face of obstacles or they may lose faith in their ability to achieve something, and then say that it was not worth achieving in the first place. They may then convince themselves that they are doing just fine without any commitment and then call the goal 'sour grapes.' They may use the intellect to argue that the only 'goal' is 'no goal', the only path is 'no path', and that they are above all desires including the desire for no desire. Else, they may say that the goal of truth is non-existent or an illusion, since there is no such thing as 'truth', and truth is only relative and subjective. They may justify their approach by saying that they are always 'living in the moment' and they are really 'nothing' or 'nobody' and to commit would mean becoming 'somebody.' The obvious flaw in this argument is that they already are 'somebody' and they are really just not aware. They may decline a need to change themselves since they believe in 'non-doership' and so they need not do or 'not do' anything at all. However, living in the moment is only possible once you have fully come to terms with the past. From time to time, they are dragged into the past through impressions and memories that resurface from the subconscious. They also reveal themselves when they respond either purely from third party knowledge or past conditioning or when their expectations are not met.

Those who are confused may also be susceptible to influence by others. When they interact with a person who is confident and certain (goal oriented and focused), they draw comfort from such interactions. The world seems like a scary place that is fraught with danger and uncertainty. In such a place, a person who seems sure of himself/herself offers stability and makes them more calm and at peace with themselves and the world. They are also prone to 'approval seeking' behaviour due to which they try to please anyone and everyone who they come into contact with (out of a fear of their disapproval). Also, they are more likely to withdraw completely from a person who does not offer them approval, even if the temporary lack of approval is for their own good. Hence it is easy for them to be influenced by anyone who offers approval or threatens to withdraw it or offer disapproval. Thus they are more subject to being emotionally manipulated by others for their own purposes, and they unable to objectively make conscious choices on who to associate with and who not to. They are the most uncertain of all 4, and they are almost equally drawn to the other three categories as long as there is an appearance of certainty and stability. For such people, it is important to not allow the unrest due to confusion to get to you. One should calmly observe the confusion and doubt and watch it without analyzing or concluding. In a need for clarity or stability, one should not hold on to anything and everything that appears to be stable or certain. Instead, one should be patient and allow the thoughts to settle down on their own. For such people, meditation and satsang are very beneficial, and they should hold on steadfast to both instead of grabbing on to emotional support from anyone who seems to be sensible, confident or stable.

Those who are primarily committed to other purposes other than truth appear to be the most confident among the four categories to an outside observer. They know exactly what they want and they know how to get it (by hook or crook). Truth or untruth are just means and not an end in itself. They may resort either to truth or to untruth, depending on circumstances to derive optimum outcomes. Whereas outwardly, they appear to be logical, crystal clear and determined, they are not internally strong. They may not be dependent on others for approval, physical or emotional support or love as categories 2 and 3, but they rely on substitutes for comfort, such as material possessions, physical appearance/ external beauty, praise and appreciation, honour and respect from others (based on designation, looks, age, knowledge etc), money, power, and addictions. When they are face to face with their own conscience (which does not happen often due to the strong protective shield of their false self or false identity that they project to others), they crumble and show their true lack of confidence. This false self acts as a sword that attacks those who attack it as well as a shield to ignore attacks by others to it.

They may pretend to be 'belonging' to any category of 'belief' such as religion, god, science, philosophy, atheism, agnosticism,spirituality, humanity, compassion, love, equality etc etc but their dedication is not to any belief but to a benefit they derive from it according to the circumstances. They do not see the oneness in goals and objectives. To them, truth is irrelevant. Reality is twisted according to their need. There is only convenience, pleasantness, benefit, and ease according to the situation. Such people can drain seekers from the other 3 categories. Only one who is secure and established in the self can interact with such persons without being affected by them. Hence, particularly for those in categories 2 and 3, it is best to minimize interaction with such persons until they have developed sufficient inner strength and self-confidence. If we must interact with such a person, let us speak directly to the true self that resides within them and totally ignore the antics of the false self and its bid for importance. The lack of acknowledgement to the false self will automatically make it restless and make it reveal itself to the awareness within them.